Little is known about how the expansion of state pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs affects low-income children with disabilities in Head Start. Using almost 30 years of administrative data of all Head Start programs and a differences-in-differences design, this study tests the possibility that, as state pre-k differentially draws relatively more…

A study presents a post-hoc evaluation of the use of accommodations in the Washington Assessment of Students Learning of 4th and 7th graders in 1998. Results indicate that while the use of accommodations appeared to be consistent with state guidelines, increased training opportunities and revisions in reporting procedures are advised. (Contains…

The article advocates extension of "permanency planning" in out-of-home placements to include children and youth with developmental disabilities. Though some states currently operate programs according to the principles of permanency planning, significant changes in existing federal policy are recommended to require permanency planning…

A survey of administrators, paraprofessionals, and teachers was undertaken to study the impact of Kansas' statewide training program for special education paraprofessionals. Results revealed that a large number of paraprofessionals and supervisors were not aware of the training program, despite a general feeling that inservice paraprofessional…

A study examined the rate of participation of Hawaiian students with disabilities in state-wide assessments in grades three, six, eight, and ten. Results found that roughly 64% of all students with disabilities were assessed in 1995. Most students who were excluded from testing were those with severe disabilities. (Author/CR)

Questionnaires completed by 51 state administrators of exceptional students indicated few programs being planned or in existence to compensate regular class teachers for additional responsibilities in mainstreaming. A chart depicts state responses in terms of additional pay, compensatory time, lower pupil-teacher ratio, lower adult-student ratio.…

A study examined data from annual reports to Congress regarding placement practices for students with learning disabilities over the past six years. Results found that students with learning disabilities are being educated in increasingly less restrictive settings, although placement practices differ considerably from state to state. (Author/CR)

The article describes the Utah Community-Based Transition Project, a federally funded project on transition planning for severely disabled youth. The planning process is aimed at facilitating coordination and expansion of community services for each graduate. Barriers facing states as they attempt to implement effective transition planning models…

A study examined the practices of 121 school-based intervention teams from Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Findings revealed several positive practices by teams from all states; however, teams from Illinois displayed consistent superiority across several measures. Discussion focuses on implications for practice and educational and legal reform.…

The statewide (Oregon) survey of special education administrators, high school special education teachers, and parents of mildly disabled high school students investigated four areas of special education services: focus/content, discrepancies between availability and utilization, barriers to mainstreaming, and conditions required for improvement.…

A study compared the effects of different methods of analyzing trends to illustrate how failure to account for change in classification will lead to misinterpretation of data on the performance of students with disabilities. Data from five years of assessment in Texas is used to illustrate effects of classification changes. (Contains references.)…

Examined are the roles and progress over the past 3 years of state councils on developmental disabilities, as established by the Developmental Disabilities Act of 1970. (Author/DB)

Differences between state and local special education programs and the state-federal vocational rehabilitation (VR) program are highlighted, through discussion of the history of the state-federal VR program, the differing definitions of disabilities, operation of the VR program, funding differences, and resultant differences in evaluation…

In this intervention study, training was found to increase the quality and extent of participation and accommodation documentation on the Individualized Education Program (IEP) of students with disabilities in three Illinois school districts. Correlations between what was documented on the IEP and what happened on testing day were highly variable.…

A study of 13 national and state data collection programs examined the exclusion of students with disabilities from data collection programs evaluating student educational outcomes. Eight recommendations are offered for improving the collection and reporting of information in state and national data collection programs. (Author/CR)